Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Breakfast Show with William Price King and Sally Cronin – Chart Hits 1950s – Chuck Berry, Debbie Reynolds, The Champs and Ritchie Valens

Welcome to our show and whilst there have been some great songs since 2005, we felt that hits from the 40s and 50s deserved a showcase from now to the end of the year… we hope you will enjoy our music memories and some of the news events of the decade.

Here is my next selection of top 1950s chart hits which I hope you will enjoy.

Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode

“Johnny B. Goode” was penned by Chuck Berry. It is recognized as being the first rock & roll hit about rock & roll stardom. It peaked at #2 on Billboard magazine’s Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on its Hot 100 chart. It is ranked at #7 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and has the honor of being included as one of the 27 songs on the “Voyager Golden Record”, a collection of music, images, and sounds designed to serve as a record of humanity.

August 29th 1958 Cliff Richard and the Drifters release single “Move It”, Richards debut single. Credited as 1st British Rock n Roll song.

Debbie Reynolds – Tammy

“Tammy” was composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the romantic comedy film “Tammy and the Bachelor” in 1957, starring Debbie Reynolds, Walter Brennan, and Leslie Nielsen. It was nominated for the 1957 Oscar for Best Original Song. The song peaked at #1 on all the US charts: the Disk Jockey chart, the Best Seller chart, and the composite chart of the top 100 songs, and earned Debbie Reynolds a gold record. In the UK it peaked at #2.

January 5th 1959 Buddy Holly releases his last record “It Doesn’t Matter”; he was killed in a plane crash 29 days later 

Now time for my next picks from the 1950s all tunes that I remember from my childhood from cartoons, films and my parents records.

The Champs – Tequila

“Tequila” is a 1958 Mexican-flavored surf instrumental written by Chuck Rio and recorded by the Champs. “Tequila” became a No. 1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its release and continues to be strongly referenced in pop culture to this day.[3] The Champs – SC Entertainment  

February 20th 1959 Jimi Hendrix (16), rock and roll guitarist, plays his first gig in the Temple De Hirsch synagogue basement, Seattle; fired from the band after the 1st set due to “wild” playing

Richie Valens – La Bamba

“La Bamba” (pronounced [la ˈβamba]) is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a Top 40 hit in the U.S. charts. Valens’s version is ranked number 345 on Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. JustinBieber

November 16th 1959 “The Sound of Music” musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 1443 performances

Additional sources: On This Day – Music – Hits of the 1940s and 1950s: Playback FM – Wikipedia

Your Hosts for The Breakfast Show

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

Sally Cronin is an author, blogger and broadcaster who enjoyed four years as part of the team on Onda Cero International’s English speaking morning show in Marbella and then for two years as a presenter on Expressfm the local radio station in Portsmouth. She co-presented two ‘Drive Time’ shows a week with Adrian Knight, hosted the live Thursday Afternoon Show and The Sunday Morning Show guests including musicians and authors. Following this she became Station Director for a local internet television station for two years, producing and presenting the daily news segment, outside broadcasts and co-presenting the Adrian and Sally chat show live on Friday evenings.

She and her husband David have now returned to Ireland where they live on the Wexford Coast where she blogs and continues to write books.

Books :Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – blog: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin

Thanks for tuning in and as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.